Like every year, we were waiting for the announcement of the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival with a certain excitement. Even if Wallimage is an economic fund, the presence of feature films co-financed in Wallonia at the world cinema’s big event is always a great moment and a nice reward for the work of all the teams who contributed to its realization.
This year, the French festival celebrates its 72nd edition… but also the 20th anniversary of the Palme d’or awarded to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Rosetta, which, as you may recall, was accompanied by an award for best actress for Émilie Dequenne. Since Rosetta, all the brothers’ films have participated in the Festival.
In 2002, Le Fils won an award for Best Actor for Olivier Gourmet. In 2005, L’Enfant won a second historic Palme d’Or, while in 2008 Le Silence de Lorna won the screenplay award and in 2011, Le gamin au Vélo was awarded the Festival’s Grand Prix.
Since then, the brothers have not been rewarded at Cannes : Two Days and a Night (2014), long cited among the favorites, and The Unknown Girl (2016) went home empty-handed.
2019 will therefore be a crucial year for Jean-Pierre and Luc who return (unsurprisingly) to the steps of the Palace with a Young Ahmed that resonates as a formal return to the sources of their cinema on a hot topic.
Twenty years later, can the Brothers make history and become the first directors to win a third Palme d’Or ? Nothing at this stage allows us to risk such a prognosis, but everything we know about the film allows us to think that this feat is totally possible. It is a way of confirming that Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne revolutionized world cinema at the very end of the last century, inspired dozens of major artists of contemporary cinema and will remain forever recognized as adored icons of the 7th art.
For Wallimage, it is also a kind of apotheosis since the Walloon fund was created in the wake of the triumph of Rosetta and has co-financed all the films of the duo who have always remained faithful to their region of origin, to their technical teams and to their social concerns. A rare example of authenticity and absolute loyalty that honors our region !
(the photo illustrating this article is by Christine Plenus)
